The present invention relates to a hard disk device comprising a housing, a plurality of disks which are stacked and rotatably enclosed in the housing, and an actuator having a head on its end for reading and writing data and enclosed in the housing so as to move relative to a surface of the disk, and an air stabilizing wing for use therewith.
Conventionally, there are various known configurations for a hard disk device comprising a housing, a plurality of disks which are stacked and rotatably enclosed in the housing, and an actuator having a head on its end for reading and writing data and enclosed in the housing so as to move relative to the surface of the disk. In such a hard disk device with the conventional configuration, when the plurality of disks are rotating at high speed, the actuator forms an obstacle between disks causing turbulence due to the rotation and the obstacle between the disks. The turbulence between disks causes the flight of the head floating above the disk to become unstable.
To solve the problem of unstable flight of the head, attempts have been made to indirectly suppress the disturbance of airflow by changing the head design, the actuator shape, or the disk material. These attempts were insufficient to stabilize the flight of the head. On the other hand, as examples of putting an airflow stabilizing member between disks, it is known to provide a spoiler between disks for preventing fluctuation of the gimbal members due to wind (Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 58-70459), and providing a straightening vane between disks for straightening the airflow disturbance due to rotation (Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. 3-83202). However, since these approaches are both intended only to prevent vibration of the actuator, they were insufficient to make the head fly stably between disks which is increasingly required at the higher rotation speed achieved in recent years.
It is the object of the present invention to solve the above described problem, and provide (i) a hard disk device in which the airflow between disks can be straightened and the vibration of disks and actuators can be suppressed, and (ii) an air stabilizing wing for use therewith.
The present invention is directed to a hard disk device, comprising: a housing, a plurality of disks which are stacked and rotatably enclosed in the housing; and an actuator having a head on its end for reading and writing data and enclosed in the housing so as to move relative to a surface of the disk. In this hard disk device, an air stabilizing wing with a streamlined cross section is provided between the disks and in the immediately lower reaches circumferentially at a predetermined distance just after and downstream, in the direction of rotation of the disks than the position where the head on the end of the actuator moves on the disks.
In the present invention, by providing an air stabilizing wing with streamlined cross section between disks, the airflow between disks can be straightened. Further, the vibration of disks can be suppressed by the pressure of the straightened air. Furthermore, by providing the air stabilizing wing in the immediately lower reaches circumferentially at a predetermined distance just after and downstream, in the direction of rotation of the disks than the position where the head on the end of the actuator moves on the disks, the turbulence around the actuator can be suppressed to control the vibration of the actuator.
As a preferred example of the present invention, if the air stabilizing wing is formed removably relative to the housing and it can be attached between disks later, the work for setting the air stabilizing wing between disks is simplified, and the air stabilizing wing can be easily changed. Further, if a plurality of air stabilizing wings are integrally configured with a predetermined distance therebetween, the plurality of air stabilizing wings can be more easily set or changed. When the distance between the head on the end of the actuator and the outer edge of the air stabilizing wing which is opposed to the head is at least 4 mm, (4 mm or larger) though it depends on the size of the hard disk device, the contact between the head and the air stabilizing wing can be eliminated. Also, as to the distance between the air stabilizing wing and the disk, if the distance between the air stabilizing wing at its thickest portion and the disk is at least 0.3 mm, (0.3 mm or larger), though it depends on the size of the hard disk device, the contact between the air stabilizing wing and the disk can be eliminated.
Further, in the present invention, to achieve the above described hard disk device, an air stabilizing wing is employed, in which a plurality of board-shaped members with streamlined cross section are provided upright on a base board so that the streamlined cross section is parallel with the base board. In the air stabilizing wing, the base board is preferably attachable to and detachable from the housing of the hard disk device, and easy placement of the air stabilizing wing in the hard disk device can be performed.